Albert Einstein used his famous thought experiment to justify his “Principle of Eqivalence” postulate that asserts; Inertia (acceleration) and Gravity are equivalent. (Although he used a room size chest and a rope I am substituting a rocket instead).
“An astronaut in an accelerating rocket will feel the same effect as if he were standing on earth.” This is true but it is not because gravity and inertia are equivalent, it because these two conditions produce the same effect, WEIGHT. Acceleration does not create gravity, it creates weight, under certain conditions.
Inertia is the law of nature that requires a force be exerted on a body to accelerate the body, relative to other bodies (momentum), or to rise it to a higher space energy level, relative to absolute space (inertial mass).
Gravity, a “primary force”, is just one the laws of nature that fulfills this requirement.
Actually, in both cases the accelerating rocket and the room resting on the ground, weight, not gravity, is created! The weight created in the accelerating rocket,(or Einstein’s chest being pulled by a rope) is just as real as weight created on the surface of the Earth. The effect of “weight” is created in both cases because a Secondary Force is being exerted on the body, altering the body’s primary inertial or gravitational acceleration, not because Gravity and Inertia are equivalent.
Weight is created simply because:
1. Inertia requires a force be exerted a body to accelerate the body.
2. The unique manner that a Secondary (Ordinary) Force exerts its force on a body. Secondary force exerts its force in succession, one body pushes against the next body which pushes against the next etc. etc.. A molecule pushes against the next molecule, an atom pushes against the next atom (even though, at this level they may not actually touching each other), the floor of a rocket pushes against the feet of an astronaut which pushes against his/her ankles which push against his/her legs etc. etc. It does not matter whether you are standing on the surface of earth or if you are accelerating in a rocket. The effect is the same – weight is created.
Gravity, a Primary Force, exerts its force on all the atoms of a body simultaneously, not in succession. That is the big difference! A body accelerating under Gravity’s influence alone is weightless. Only when a Secondary Force alters the body’s gravitational acceleration, in some manner, is the effect of weight created (such as preventing a body “resting” on the surface of earth to accelerate toward the center of earth). All bodies “resting” on earth’s surface are actually in a state of restrained acceleration.
In both cases of Einstein’s thought experiment (Accelerating room and the room “resting” on the ground) a Secondary Force is creating the effect of weight. When a Primary Force such as Gravity is exerted on a body alone, (falling body) the body accelerates but the body is weightless!
Gravity is exerting exactly the same amount of force on each atomic particle of the body, simultaneously. This causes the feeling of weightlessness. This lack of weight sensation fooled Einstein into thinking that no force was being exerted on the body – that gravity is not a force! He said that falling bodies simply follow geodesic lines of curved space.
Actually the falling body is completely under the influence of gravitational force. It is being accelerated by gravity alone and therefore no weight sensation is created. Weight itself is not a force, it is the unique effect created – when a Secondary Force is exerted against a body and can be used as an accurate measurement (weight) to indicate the amount of Secondary Force that is being exerted. On Earth, weight is the measure of Secondary Force required to prevent a body from accelerating 32.2 ft./sec.2 toward the center of Earth.
Weight is created only when a Secondary Force is exerted against a body, thereby altering the body’s original inertial acceleration caused by a Primary Force. It could be Gravity or another Primary Force such as those that arise from the chemical reactions which produce the gases that propel a rocket or the electromagnetic force of the elevator’s motors, it makes no difference.
The important thing is that a Secondary Force must be exerted to STOP OR ALTER the body’s acceleration for the effect of weight to be created. If a body is “resting” on the surface of the Earth, the surface prevents (stops) it from continuing its fall toward the center of the Earth.
It is Secondary Force that creates the effect of weight in both cases. Therefore, Einstein’s postulate, “The Principle of Equivalence”, has not been proven by his thought experiment. The idea that a light beam will be influenced by Gravity being exerted on it, also has not been proven.
The star’s light beam that was supposedly deflected by the Sun’s gravity to add credibility to Einstein’s theory, was probably optically deflected by the Sun’s atmosphere as it passed through its extended corona.
Donald L. Hamilton
Refer: Chapters: 15,16,18, – The MIND of Mankind
http://novan.com/mind.htm
http://novan.com/
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